<p>Binder jet printing (BJP) is an additive manufacturing (AM) method which has the potential to be applied to high annual volumes in the automotive industry. Binder jet printing provides an excellent opportunity to innovate transmission valve body components. The three-layer design and complex hydraulic control system channels of valve body housing formulated a new electro-hydraulic system with the brand-new features inherited from BJP. For the valve body, the features of BJP brought a revolutionary new idea for both the valves and hydraulic channel design. The spool valve was housed with a sleeve that integrates orifices and port controls. The hydraulic channel layout of the valve body assembly was greatly simplified and space-saving. The support components had also been replaced with a lightweight design while maintaining the same functionality. Integrated design of Binder jet print produced hydraulic automatic valve system presented an entirely new design, whose static performance was compared to that of the conventional 948TE ZF9HP48 transmission valve body. Similar performance indicated that a valve body design featuring BJP would have great potential for various industrial applications.</p>

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have become increasingly prevalent in modern society, with multiple companies pursuing avenues to advance technology. Despite the promises of safer driving, mitigating accidents and reducing stress, mixed opinions exist on the reliability and trustworthiness of the technology. While many factors form opinions regarding AVs, the component of personal values in AV discourse has not been well-documented. This research focuses on understanding which personal values are most prominent in AV discourse and how individuals prioritize these personal values. We studied two AV-focused data sources to gain perspective: 24 TED Talk transcripts and 20,000 Reddit user posts. Next, we scored the prevalence of personal values using the Personal Values Dictionary (PVD). Our results found that self-direction, achievement, power, stimulation, and conformity had an overall positive inclination in AV discourse. However, we also found value conflicts between both data sets, indicating a potential dissonance between professional opinions and those of typical consumers. Our findings provide insight into values literature and issues consumers bring up when discussing or adopting AVs. Our research on value conflicts can also link to consumers' potential adoption of AVs. Thus, we provide potentially useful perspectives for companies to address these concerns directly in their AV production, advertising, and design philosophies.

Driving has become a very common activity for most of the people around the world today. People are becoming more and more dependent on vehicles, contributing to the growth of automotive industry. New vehicles are released regularly into the market in order to meet the high demand. With the increase in demand, the importance of vehicle testing has also increased by many folds. Besides testing new vehicles for their performance prediction, existing vehicles also need to be tested in order to check their compliance to safety standards. Drive Cycles that have been traditionally defined as velocity over time profiles are used as vehicle testing beds. The need for re-defining drive cycles is demonstrated through the high deviations between the predicted and the actual performance values. As such, a new approach for defining automotive drive cycles, Journey Mapping, is proposed. Journey Mapping defines a drive cycle more realistically as the journey of a particular vehicle from an origin to the destination, which during its journey is influenced by various conditions such as weather, terrain, traffic, driver behavior, road , vehicle and aerodynamic. This concept of Journey Mapping has been implemented using AMESim for a Ford Focus Electric 2012. Journey Mapping was seen to predict its energy consumption with about 5% error; whereas, the error was about 13% when it was tested against the US06 cycle, which provided the most accurate results out of the various traditional drive cycles used for testing for the selected scope. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Energy management strategies for microgrids, containing energy storage, renewable energy sources (RES), and electric vehicles (EVs); which interact with the grid on an individual basis; are presented in Chapter 3. An optimization problem to reduce cost, formulated over a rolling time horizon, using predicted values of load demand, EV connection/disconnection times, and charge levels at time of connection, is described. The solution provides the on-site storage and EV charge/discharge powers. For the first time, both bidirectional and unidirectional charging are considered for EVs and a controller which accommodates uncertainties in EV energy levels and connection/disconnection times is presented. In Chapter 4, a stochastic chance constraints based optimization is described. It affords significant improvement in robustness, over the conventional controller, to uncertainties in system parameters. Simulation results demonstrate that the stochastic controller is at least twice as effective at meeting the desired EV charge level at specific times compared to the non-stochastic version, in the presence of uncertainties. In Chapter 5, a network of microgrids, containing RES and batteries, which trade energy among themselves and with the utility grid is considered. A novel distributed energy management system (EMS), based on a central EMS using a Multi-Objective (MO) Rolling Horizon (RH) scheme, is presented. It uses Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) and Quadratic Programming (QP). It is inherently more data-secure and resilient to communication issues than the central EMS. It is shown that using an EMS in the network provides significant economic benefits over MGs connected directly to the grid. Simulations demonstrate that the distributed scheme produced solutions which are very close to those of the central EMS. Simulation results also reveal that the faster, less memory intensive distributed scheme is scalable to larger networks -- more than 1000 microgrids as opposed to a few hundreds for the central EMS. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p dir="ltr">The rising demand for EVs, motivated by their environmental benefits, is generating increased need for EV charging infrastructure. Also, it has been recognized that the adequacy of such infrastructure helps promote EV use. Therefore, to facilitate EV adoption, governments seek guidance on continued investments in EV charging infrastructure development. The high cost of these investments motivates governments to seek optimal decisions on EV-related investments including EV charging infrastructure, and such decisions include locations, capacities, and deployment scheduling of such infrastructure. Additionally, uncertainties in travel demand prediction and EV driving range constraints need to be considered in EV infrastructure investment planning. To help address these questions, this thesis developed a framework to establish optimal schedules and locations for new charging stations and for decommissioning gasoline refueling stations for any given network over a long-term planning horizon, considering uncertainties in travel demand forecasts and EV driving-range heterogeneity. To address the uncertainties, the proposed framework is formulated as a robust mathematical model that minimizes the worst-case total system travel cost and the total penalty for unused charging station capacity. This study uses an adaption of the cutting-plane method to solve the proposed model. In the numerical analyses, the performance of the robust framework and its deterministic counterpart are compared. The results show that the optimal robust plan outperforms the deterministic plan by yielding savings in the costs of travel and electricity charging. The thesis also investigates the effects of investment budget levels of robust planning. The numerical results throw light on the relationships between higher investment levels and electric charging station deployment levels and consequently, the savings in travel costs and impacts on unused charging capacity. The outcomes of this thesis can help road agencies and related private sector entities enhance preparations towards infrastructure investments to support electric charging stations in an efficient manner.</p>

This research endeavors to provide a comprehensive examination of the preferences exhibitedby the millennial demographic with regard to electric vehicles (EVs) within the context ofSweden. The study encompasses a thorough analysis of various dimensions, includingattitudes, innovation, technology, pricing, performance, and environmental considerations, allof which shape the decision-making process of millennials in adopting EVs. As electricvehicles emerge as a prominent solution for sustainable mobility, comprehending thepreferences of millennials becomes pivotal for steering the trajectory of the automotiveindustry. Employing qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and meticulous analysis,this study delves into the intricate web of factors that influence millennial consumers in theirchoice to embrace EVs.The outcomes of this research divulge the intricate interplay between the attitudes ofconsumers and the evolving perception of electric vehicles. This exploration offers insightinto factors such as perceived convenience, technological assimilation, and conscientiousnesstowards societal impact. Furthermore, the study unravels the layers of pricing perceptions,elucidating the role of economic considerations and long-term cost-effectiveness in thediscernment of millennials' decision-making processes. Aligned with the environmentallycognizant ethos often attributed to millennials, this research undertakes a comprehensiveinvestigation into the salience of environmental considerations in shaping their preferencesfor EVs. This not only encompasses the reduction of carbon emissions but also extends toencompass the broader sustainability ramifications associated with the adoption of electricvehicles. The insights garnered from this study contribute to a nuanced and thoroughcomprehension of the pivotal role millennials play in steering the transition towards EVs.The findings of this research hold substantial implications for policymakers, manufacturers,and stakeholders in the automotive industry who are vested in aligning their offerings withthe preferences of millennials. Acknowledging the profound impact of consumer attitudes,pricing dynamics, and environmental conscientiousness, this research underscores theindispensable requirement for a comprehensive approach in fostering the adoption of electricvehicles within the millennial demographic in Sweden.

The spread of new technologies takes place at different speeds across different places and between different individuals in a society. This essay focuses on examining and analyzing how the distribution pattern and pace of electric and hybrid cars, commonly called electric vehicles, has taken place in Sweden since the beginning of the 2000s and the following two decades. This trend analysis has been done at national, regional, and local level. Furthermore, a binary logistical regression analysis has been conducted at the individual level for the corresponding geography, based on the goal of finding the personal conditions that affect the acquisition of an electric vehicle.  The study shows that Sweden is at a turning point regarding the diffusion of innovation where the next phase that follows is the “early acceptance”- face in a society. Regional primary locations lead the development and the individuals who most likely own electric vehicles are generally married, highly educated men who own their own housing, have a yearly income above the national median income level and are between 40-80 years old.

Faster charging and availability of charging infrastructure are the two main challenges facing an accelerated transition to sustainable electri ed transportation. Both challenges can be solved by developing modular charging systems that are future proof all while having low running and installation costs. As such, this thesis focuses on developing modular and e cient DC/DC charging solutions with a wide charging voltage range capability to meet the needs of existing and next generation plug-in electric vehicles. The thesis starts with describing its motivation and gives an overview on the impact of charging technologies on the electri fication movement. Then, specifi c objectives and research contributions are laid out to narrow the focus of the reader. A review on existing charging systems, standards, architecture and features is presented. Existing isolated and on-isolated power converter topologies for DC-chargers are analyzed and research gaps in power converters with a wide charging voltage range are highlighted. A new single stage DC/DC converter topology and operation scheme is proposed to extend the charging voltage range. Modeling and analysis of the proposed solution was used to select the transition point between different operating modes. Impedance tolerance and pulse distortion was modeled to analyze the passive current sharing error at light and full load operation. The combination of the proposed topology and unique operating scheme reduced the voltage and current stress per device allowing the use of lower kVA rated devices leading to higher cost savings compared to other solutions. An experimental setup has been developed which showed the excellent performance of the proposed topology. The design and optimization strategy for the proposed dual-secondary dual-active bridge (DAB) converter topology is presented. A converter loss model is developed to take in to account: magnetic, switching, and conduction loss. Then, the design process and quantization scheme to quantize charging pro les into discrete energy points is explained, which entails parametric optimization using a genetic algorithm (GA) to minimize energy loss across widely varying charging pro les based on actual charging data. Comprehensive experimental testing was carried out to validate the proposed design strategy and excellent performance was achieved over an extended operating range. After the review of power magnetics used in isolated chargers, high parasitic capacitance in planar transformers was identi ed as an obstacle in the way of development of chargers, especially in charging applications that demand high switching frequencies or extended low power operation. Therefore, a novel planar transformer structure was proposed with ultra-low winding capacitance. The proposed co-planar transformer was compared to three other planar types to highlight the differences and bene fits. Four different prototypes of planar transformers were built with the same target speci fications, to compare the proposed structure against previous solutions. Impedance testing of the planar prototypes was carried to measure the winding stray capacitance and frequency response. Experimental power testing using a DAB converter setup showed excellent results in reducing voltage overshoot, high frequency oscillations, and power losses. Finally, a 30-kW dual-secondary DAB charging module was designed, implemented, and tested. The purpose of this work is to bridge the engineering gap between a proof of concept and a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) mature charging module, focusing more on regulatory standards and control system development. Experimental validation of the liquid cooled module showed excellent performance characteristics. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the environment, and various efforts has been made in order to reduce human impact upon the planet. One such effort is transitioning the transport industry from using fossil-fuels to more sustainable fuels, such as electricity. This has led to a heightened interest in electric vehicles. Although electric vehicles have risen in popularity, they still face some challenges. One of these challenges is the lack of charging stations, and the hassle of charging the car. The complicated charging experience has even been expressed as a barrier, making some people hesitant to buy an electric vehicle. This calls for making the charging experience more intuitive and easy. One possible way to achieve this is by providing the drivers of electric vehicles with complementary tools, such as mobile applications, to aid them with charging. However, for these tools to be effective, it is important that they are designed with usability in mind. The focus of this thesis is enhancing usability in mobile applications for charging stations. In order to achieve this, a mobile application called Greencharge Infra is used as a case. The current design of this application is evaluated using Nielsen’s 10 heuristics of usability. Additionally, a user survey is sent out to representative users in order to better understand the user needs in these kinds of applications. Based on the findings from the evaluation and the user survey, and knowledge from established usability principles, a redesigned application is proposed. This proposal is later tested on representative users to ensure that the new design is living up to usability expectations. During the test, five criteria of usability are evaluated, these are efficiency, errors, satisfaction, memorability and learnability. The usability test result show that the new design of the application was efficient, induced few errors, was pleasant to use, and easy to learn. Therefore, the overall result of this thesis indicates that applying principles of usability in a real world case does work. The research has also led to wider understanding of how crucial usability is in mobile applications for charging stations.

As a response to the zero emission targets set for 2050, the number of electric and alternative fuel vehicles is increasing drastically. While those vehicles are not more likely to burn compared to vehicles with combustion engines, there are numerous accidents where the batteries ignite, the firefighters couldn't handle them properly due to lack of experience with new cars and on-site real-time information. It becomes even harder as there are not widely accepted procedures. Extrication has also become very hard due to the structural changes in the new vehicles. The structural variety of vehicles makes it harder for firefighters to properly respond to car accidents. The FUSE system provides AI-assisted guidance to the firefighters while responding to car crashes and documents it to improve the AI and the firefighters for future cases. FUSE is an AI-assisted handheld device and a system designed for firefighters to be used for car accidents. FUSE has a set of sensors and cameras together with flashlights and a laser cross generator. It’s not only packed with sensors but a powerful AI which has the access to a database of 3D models and rescue information of the vehicles together with the real-world knowledge. It compares 3D data of vehicles with real-world scans and generates recommendations in augmented reality form.